Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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10 The Lawrencian penses for the United States army in 1935-1936, $348,000,000 was ap- propriated, and over $400,000,000 was appropriated for the United States navy. Even these enormous amounts are but a part of the annual ex- pense for the cost of war in times of peace. $2,500,000,000, or two- thirds of the total annual revenue of the United States pays for the army and navy, for pensions and hospitals for veterans, and for payments and interest on war debts. Not only is war expensive mater- ially, but it wastes the time, the energy, and the ideals of the peo- ple. Time that could be spent in improving human minds by educa- tion and culture is used for destroy- ing human lives. As our great Amer- ican poet, Longfellow, says in his poem, The Arsenal at Springfield: “Were half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth, be- stowed on camps and courts, Given to redeem the human mind from error, There were no need of arsen- als nor forts.” Energy that could be made to pro- duce results, to build a stronger people physically, is used for killing off these people and tearing down their nations. Ideals that bring out the best in humanity, that promote the spirit of democracy, brother- hood, and love, are completely shat- tered by war. A person broken by war, bereft of ideals, has nothing before him, nothing for which to hope, to strive, to live, or to die. He has lived in the pits of the world; he has been through dark caverns of agony — he has been through war. How can he ever again look at life as an adventure, as a challenge? Idealistically he is broken. And if the world is to progress, it must have idealists, people of vision, who trust, who see ahead. Of course, disarmament of the nations cannot take place overnight. It. must be thoroughly studied and prepared for in advance, or utter confusion and chaos will result. The possibility of revolutions and an- archy will have to be avoided by all means if such disarmament is to be successful. There are two ways in which the world can prepare for disarmament: The first method is self-govern- ment for each nation, either by a republic or by a democracy. Such a government the United States has today, and the few uprisings and riots that we do have are only trivial. The people run the govern- ment, electing their representatives and leaders; and they may put any of them out of office by the popu- lar voting power. By this means, dishonest politicians do not last long enough to cause much harm, and there is little chance for dictator- ship. There is no room for dicta- torial policies in a peace-loving world! We must outgrow them! The false patriots who submit to such extremes will discover their folly when the glamor wears off and the cold, dull reality of another war eats its way into their lives. Then will they realize the stark necessity of a sensible government by the peo- ple and for the people. The world needs republics and democracies to squelch dictators, to check present wars, and to prevent future wars. If the world as a whole should become educated to this system of self- government, there would be little necessity for the strong army or the large navy; there would be no urge for war. An educated people would not be led blindly on to war by a

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Lawrence High School 11 single, strong dictator; they would lead themselves to peace. There is another method that would prepare for the disarming of individual nations: a cooperative world court backed by an inter- national police force. This court would correspond to our present World Court and League of Nations in purpose, but it would be much more powerful in that it would have the means of enforcing its purpose. A police force, made up of armed units from the world’s nations, would be behind the court to carry out its decisions. A regular standing army could be mobilized in very short order when necessary. The international navy would be at hand for any emergency calls. A nation would not back out while its own countrymen would be serving on this international force. No one country would be given special advantages or privileges by this cooperative body of authority. Revolutions or disturbances in any part of the world represented in this body would be quelled instantly by this efficient force. All tendencies toward war would be wiped out at the begin- ning. The plan would eliminate any competition and yet w’ould give each country an equal share of the world’s glories — peacefully. The world needs peace, but the only way to attain it is by disarming the nations! The two suggested ways for preparing for this disarmament are: (1) by educating the people to a system of independent self-govern- ment for each nation of the world, and (2) by a cooperative world court having absolute authority to enforce its decisions. We, as citizens of the world, must back international friendship by supporting this pro- gram for world-wide disarmament. Let us start today, going forward with the challenge, “Down with war! Onward to peace!” Florence Marjorie Huxley INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION What has been done to establish world peace? Although many at- tempts have been made to devise an efficient method of settling inter- national disputes and thus putting an end to war, no promising plan has yet been brought to light. When speaking about war and peace, probably the first organiza- tion that comes to mind is the League of Nations. For a long period of years before the World War, the idea of such a society of nations had been steadily gaining momen- tum; and upon the entry of this country into the War, it became the principal objective of President Wil- son. The prestige of the United States had a strong influence on the allied powers, and for a long time prior to the Armistice men in this and other countries had been at w r ork preparing constitutional foun- dations for the League. Three drafts were ready at the close of the War — one by Wilson, another by Smuts of South Africa, and a third by Lords Fillmore and Cecil of England. After many con- ferences between the American dele- gation headed by Wilson and those of England, France, and Italy, the final draft was completed by the Commission on the League of Na- tions, which consisted of nineteen members, ten of which represented the five great powers; and it was voted to have the League Covenant become Article 1 of the Treaty of Versailles. On April 28, 1919, this was accepted by the Peace Conference. When the Covenant first became